1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to device involved in optical connections, and more particularly to a method of coupling an optical fiber to an optoelectronic component, and to connector devices obtained thereby.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,591 to K. Fischer et al. describes a device for coupling an optical fiber to an optoelectronic component having an optical waveguide. The alignment between optical fiber and optoelectronic component is effected by means of a fiber support. The fiber support is made of silicon and comprises a V-shaped groove.
The alignment of the core of the optical fiber with the waveguide requires a groove of significant depth, of the order of 100 .mu.m, and thus requiring an orientation of the axes of the single crystal of silicon to within 0.1.degree. in order to obtain a depth reproducible with an accuracy on the order of tenths of a micron.
Accuracy of the alignment is dependent on the positioning of the optical fiber upon mounting thereof in the V-shaped groove. Proper positioning requires use of a groove of significant length. Moreover, positioning of the support relative to the optoelectronic component requires high precision in flatness of the contacting front surfaces of the support and optoelectronic component.
The known etching methods for making the V-shaped grooves provide an accuracy on the order of some tenths of a micron.
The document "Realisation de composants passifs optiques integres en verre moulable" [Implementing passive optical components in moldable glass], by C. Nissim et al., Opto 85, pp 114-115, shows a device enabling the positioning of the optical fibers facing integrated optical waveguides.
The solution which is described consists of forming V-shaped notches by precision molding in a glass plate. The waveguides are then formed in the moldable glass referenced to the position assumed by the fiber in its notch.
The difficulty with such a solution lies in its requisite method of alignment. The position to be considered is determined by the optical fiber in its notch so that the alignment can only be effected by placing the guide at the right depth at the time of a second ion exchange, which is not easy to control.
Another difficulty is that the position assumed by each of the fibers varies, depending on the particular fiber. These positions necessitate notches of great depth, obtained by molding, which have insufficient accuracy to allow proper alignment of monomode optical fibers. The solution proposed can thus only be applied to multimode optical fibers.